Old English Patent Medicines in America Part 4

Other drugstores certainly followed the practice of Brewer's employer, in cleaning up and refilling bottles that had previously been drained of their old English medicines. The chief source of bottles to hold the American imitations, however, was the same as that to which Waldo and Rantoul had turned, English gla.s.s factories. It was not so easy for Americans to fabricate the vials as it was for them to compound the mixtures to fill them. In the years before the War of 1812, the British gla.s.s industry maintained a virtual monopoly of the specially-shaped bottles for Bateman's, Turlington's, and the other British remedies.

When in the 1820's the first t.i.tan of made-in-America nostrums, Thomas W. Dyott of Philadelphia, appeared upon the scene, this venturesome entrepreneur decided to make bottles not only for his own a.s.sorted remedies but also for the popular English brands. In time he succeeded in improving the quality of American bottle gla.s.s and in drastically reducing prices. The standard cost for most of the old English vials under the British monopoly had been $5.50 a gross. By the early 1830's Dyott had cut the price to under two dollars.[84]

[84] _Democratic Press_, Philadelphia, July 1 and October 28, 1824; Thomas W. Dyott, _An exposition of the system of moral and mental abor, established at the gla.s.s factory of Dyottsville_, Philadelphia, 1833; and Joseph D. Weeks, "Reports on the manufacture of gla.s.s," _Report of the manufactures of the United States at the tenth census_, Washington, D. C, 1883.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 11.--AN ORIGINAL PACKAGE OF HOOPER'S PILLS, from the Samuel Aker, David and George Ka.s.s collection, Albany, New York.

(_Smithsonian photo_ 44201.)]

Other American gla.s.s manufactories followed suit. For example, in 1835 the Free Will Gla.s.s Manufactory was making "G.o.dfrey's Cordial,"

"Turlington's Balsam," and "Opodeldoc Bitters bottles."[85] An 1848 broadside ent.i.tled "The Gla.s.sblowers' List of Prices of Druggist's Ware," a broadside preserved at the Smithsonian Inst.i.tution, includes listings for Turlington's Balsam, G.o.dfrey's Cordial, Dalby's and Small and Large Opodeldoc bottles, among many other American patent medicine bottles.

[85] Van Rensscalar, _op. cit._, (footnote 53), p. 151.

In the daybook of the Beverly, Ma.s.sachusetts, apothecary,[86] were inscribed for Turlington's Balsam, three separate formulas, each markedly different from the others. A Philadelphia medical journal in 1811 contained a complaint that Americans were using calomel in the preparation of Anderson's Scots Pills, and that this practice was a deviation both from the original formula and from the different but still all-vegetable formula by which the pills were being made in England.[87] Various books were published revealing the "true"

formulas, in conflicting versions.[88]

[86] Rantoul, _op. cit._ (footnote 72).

[87] _Philadelphia Medical Museum_, new ser., vol. 1, p. 130, 1811.

[88] _Formulae selectae; or a collection of prescriptions of eminent physicians, and the most celebrated patent medicines_, New York, 1818; John Ayrton Paris, _Pharmacologia; or the history of medicinal substances, with a view to establish the art of prescribing and of composing extemporaneous formulae upon fixed and scientific principles_, New York, 1822.

Philadelphia College of Pharmacy Formulary

As the years went by and therapeutic laissez-faire continued to operate, conditions worsened. By the early 1820's, the old English patent medicines, whether of dwindling British vintage or of burgeoning American manufacture, were as familiar as laudanum or castor oil.

With the demand so extensive and the state of production so chaotic, the officials of the new Philadelphia College of Pharmacy were persuaded that remedial action was mandatory. In May 1822, the Board of Trustees resolved to appoint a 5-man committee "to select from such prescriptions for the preparation of Patent Medicines ..., as may be submitted to them by the members of the College, those which in their opinion, may be deemed most appropriate for the different compositions."

The committee chose for study "eight of the Patent Medicines most in use," and sought to ascertain what ingredients these ancient remedies ought by right to contain. Turning to the original formulas, where these were given in English patent specifications, the pharmacists soon became convinced that the information provided by the original proprietors served "only to mislead."

If the patent specifications were perhaps intentionally confusing, the committee inquired, how could the original formulas really be known?

This quest seemed so fruitless that it was not pursued. Instead the pharmacists turned to American experience in making the English medicines. From many members of the College, and from other pharmacists as well, recipes were secured. The result was shocking. Although almost every one came bolstered with the a.s.sertion that it was true and genuine, the formulas differed so markedly one from the other, the committee reported, as to make "the task of reformation a very difficult one." Indeed, in some cases, when two recipes bearing the same old English name were compared, they were found to contain not one ingredient in common. In other cases, the proportions of some basic ingredient would vary widely. All the formulas collected for Bateman's Pectoral Drops, for instance, contained opium, but the amount of opium to liquid ingredients in one formula submitted was 1 to 14, while in another it was 1 to 1,000.

Setting forth boldly to strip these English nostrums of "their extravagant pretensions," the committee sought to devise formulas for their composition as simple and inexpensive as possible while yet retaining the "chief compatible virtues" ascribed to them on the traditional wrappers.

Hooper's Female Pills had been from the beginning a cathartic and emmenagogue. However, only aloes was common to all the recipes submitted to the committee. This botanical, which still finds a place in laxative products today, was retained by the committee as the cathartic base, and to it were added "the Extract of h.e.l.lebore, the Sulphate of Iron and the Myrrh as the best emmenagogues."

Anderson's Scots Pills had been a "mild" purgative throughout its long career, varying in composition "according to the judgement or fancy of the preparer." Paris, an English physician, had earlier reported that these pills consisted of aloes and jalap; the committee decided on aloes, with small amounts of colocynth and gamboge, as the purgatives of choice.

Of Bateman's Pectoral Drops more divergent versions existed than of any of the others. The committee settled on a formula of opium and camphor, not unlike paragoric in composition, with catachu, anise flavoring, and coloring added. G.o.dfrey's Cordial also featured opium in widely varying amounts. The committee chose a formula which would provide a grain of opium per ounce, to which was added sa.s.safras "as the carminative which has become one of the chief features of the medicine."

English apothecary Dalby had introduced his "Carminative" for "all those fatal Disorders in the Bowels of Infants." The committee decided that a grain of opium to the ounce, together with magnesia and three volatile oils, were essential "for this mild carminative and laxative ... for children."

Instead of the complex formula described by Robert Turlington for his Balsam of Life, the committee settled on the official formula of Compound Tincture of Benzoin, with balsam of peru, myrrh, and angelica root added, to produce "an elegant and rich balsamic tincture." On the other hand, the committee adopted "with slight variations, the Linimentum Saponis of the old London Dispensatory" to which they, like Steers, added only ammonia.

The committee found two distinct types of British Oil on the market.

One employed oil of turpentine as its basic ingredient, while the other utilized flaxseed oil. The committee decided that both oils, along with several others in lesser quant.i.ties, were necessary to produce a medicine "as exhibited in the directions" sold with British Oil. "Oil of Bricks" which apparently was the essential ingredient of the Betton British Oil, was described by the committee as "a nauseous and unskilful preparation, which has long since been banished from the Pharmacopoeias."

Thus the Philadelphia pharmacists devised eight new standardized formulas, aimed at retaining the therapeutic goals of the original patent medicines, while brought abreast of current pharmaceutical knowledge. Recognizing that the labeling had long contained "extravagant pretensions and false a.s.sertions," the committee recommended that the wrappers be modified to present only truthful claims. If the College trustees should adopt the changes suggested, the committee concluded optimistically, then "the reputation of the College preparations would soon become widely spread, and we ... should reap the benefit of the examination which has now been made, in an increased public confidence in the Inst.i.tution and its members; the influence of which would be felt in extending the drug business of our city."[89]

[89] Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, _Formulae for the preparation of eight patent medicines, adopted by the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy_, May 4, 1824; Joseph W.

England, ed., _The first century of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy_, 1821-1921, Philadelphia, 1922.

The trustees felt this counsel to be wise, and ordered 250 copies of the 12-page pamphlet to be printed. So popular did this first major undertaking of the Philadelphia College prove that in 1833 the formulas were reprinted in the pages of the journal published by the College.[90] Again the demand was high, few numbers of the publication were "more sought after," and in 1839 the formulas were printed once again, this time with slight revisions.[91]

[90] "Patent medicines," _Journal of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy_, April 1833, vol. 5, pp. 20-31.

[91] C. Ellis, "Patent medicines," _American Journal of Pharmacy_, April 1839, new ser., vol. 5, pp. 67-74.

Thus had the old English patent medicines reached a new point in their American odyssey. They had first crossed the Atlantic to serve the financial interests of the men who promoted them. During the Revolution they had lost their British ident.i.ty while retaining their British names. The Philadelphia pharmacists, while adopting them and reforming their character, did not seek to monopolize them, as had the original proprietors. They now could work for every man.

English Patent Medicines Go West

The double reprinting of the formulas was one token of the continuing role in American therapy of the old English patent medicines. There were others. In 1829 with the establishment of a school of pharmacy in New York City, the Philadelphia formulas were accepted as standard. The new labels devised by the Philadelphians with their more modest claims of efficacy had a good sale.[92] It was doubtless the Philadelphia recipes which went into the Bateman and Turlington and G.o.dfrey vials with which a new druggist should be equipped "at the outset of business," according to a book of practical counsel.[93] To local merchants who lacked the knowledge or time to do it themselves, drummers and peddlers vended the medicines already bottled. "Doctor"

William Euen of Philadelphia issued a pamphlet in 1840 to introduce his son to "Physicians and Country Merchants." His primary concern was dispensing nostrums bearing his own label, but his son was also prepared to take orders for the old English patent medicines.[94]

Manufacturers and wholesalers of much better repute were prepared to sell bottles for the same brands, empty or filled.

[92] England, _op. cit._ (footnote 89), pp. 73, 103.

[93] Carpenter, _op. cit._ (footnote 73).

[94] William Euen, _A short expose on quackery ... or, introduction of his son to physicians and country merchants_, Philadelphia, 1840.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 12.--ENGLISH AND AMERICAN BRANDS OF HOOPER'S FEMALE PILLS, an a.s.sortment of packages of from the Samuel Aker, David and George Ka.s.s collection, Albany, New York. (_Smithsonian photo 44201-D._)]

In the early 1850's a young pharmacist in upstate New York,[95] using "old alcohol barrels for tanks," worked hard at concocting Bateman's and G.o.dfrey's and Steer's remedies. John Uri Lloyd of Cincinnati recalled having compounded G.o.dfrey's Cordial and Bateman's Drops, usually making ten gallons in a single batch.[96] Out in Wisconsin, another druggist was buying G.o.dfrey's Cordial bottles at a dollar for half a gross, sticking printed directions on them that cost twelve cents for the same quant.i.ty, and selling the medicine at four ounces for a quarter.[97] He also sold British Oil and Opodeldoc, the same old English names dispensed by a druggist in another Wisconsin town, who in addition kept Bateman's Oil in stock at thirteen cents the bottle.[98]

G.o.dfrey's was listed in the 1860 inventory of an Illinois general store at six cents a bottle.[99]

[95] James Winch.e.l.l Forbes, "The memoirs of an American pharmacist," _Midland Druggist and Pharmaceutical Review_, 1911, vol. 45, pp. 388-395.

[96] John Uri Lloyd, "Eclectic fads," _Eclectic Medical Journal_, October 1921, vol. 81, p. 2.

[97] Cody & Johnson Drug Co., Apothecary daybooks, Watertown, Wisconsin [1851-1872]. Ma.n.u.script originals preserved in the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, cataloged under "Cady."

[98] Swarthout and Silsbee, Druggists daybook, Columbus, Wisconsin [1852-1853]. Ma.n.u.script original preserved in the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.

[99] McClaughry and Tyler, Invoice book, Fountain Green, Illinois [1860-1877]. Ma.n.u.script original preserved in the Illinois State Historical Society, Springfield.

Farther west the same familiar names appeared. Indeed, the old English patent medicines had long since moved westward with fur trader and settler. As early as 1783, a trader in western Canada, shot by a rival, called for Turlington's Balsam to stop the bleeding. Alas, in this case, the remedy failed to work.[100] In 1800 that inveterate Methodist traveler, Bishop Francis Asbury, resorted to Stoughton's Elixir when afflicted with an intestinal complaint.[101] In 1808, some two months after the first newspaper began publishing west of the Mississippi River, a local store advised readers in the vicinity of St. Louis that "a large supply of patent medicines" had just been received, among them G.o.dfrey's Cordial, British Oil, Turlington's Balsam, and Steer's "Ofodeldo [sic]."[102]

[100] Harold A. Innis, _Peter Pond, fur trader and adventurer_, Toronto, 1930.

[101] Peter Oliver, "Notes on science, medicine and public health in the United States in the year 1800," _Bulletin of the History of Medicine_. 1944, vol. 16, p. 129.

[102] Isaac Lionberger, "Advertis.e.m.e.nts in the Missouri Gazette, 1808-1811," _Missouri Historical Society Collections_, 1928-1931, vol. 6, p. 21.

Turlington's product played a particular role in the Indian trade, thus demonstrating that the red man has not been limited in nostrum history to providing medical secrets for the white man to exploit. Proof of this has been demonstrated by archaeologists working under the auspices of the Smithsonian Inst.i.tution in both North and South Dakota. Two pear-shaped bottles with Turlington's name and patent claims embossed in the gla.s.s were excavated by a Smithsonian Inst.i.tution River Basin Surveys expedition in 1952, on the site of an old trading post known as Fort Atkinson or Fort Bethold II, situated some 16 miles southeast of the present Elbowoods, North Dakota. In 1954 the North Dakota Historical Society found a third bottle nearby. These posts, operated from the mid-1850's to the mid-1880's, served the Hidatsa and Mandan Indians who dwelt in a town named Like-a-Fishhook Village. The medicine bottles were made of cast gla.s.s, light green in color, probably of American manufacture. More interesting is the bottle from South Dakota.